The present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for riding an animal with a safety release and more particularly to a method for enabling a rough rider to hold onto an animal being ridden with a rope but to be quickly and safely released from the animal if thrown therefrom while a limb of the rider remains caught in the rope and to a safety latch in the rope that allows such release to occur.
Bull riding is considered the rodeo""s roughest, wildest, and most dangerous event. It is easy to see why. Bull riders are usually of slight build, weighing from one hundred thirty to one hundred fifty pounds. In contrast, the roughstock selected for bull riding are usually specially cross-bred and managed Brahma bulls with known reputations and characteristics. These bulls have great strength and ferocity, are extremely quick despite their size, and have a predisposition to attack a human. Such a bull can weigh more than a ton, can lift more than its weight, has the agility to jump higher than its height, and can have sharp horns exceeding one foot in length. Unlike a horse that will look back and interact with its rider and avoid stepping on him if thrown, a bull has little empathy for its rider and will attempt to trample on and gore a down rider.
As is well known, while the bull is in the chute, a bull rope is wrapped around the girth of the bull and provides a hand-hold back of the bull""s hump. The bull rider mounts the bull and grasps the hand-hold with one hand by which he holds the rope tightly around the bull. The other hand remains free and must not touch the bull or the rope during the ride, or else the rider will be disqualified. Prior to grasping the hand-hold, the rider puts his holding hand in a glove saturated with rosin. The gloved hand is placed in the hand-hold, and the free end of the bull rope is wrapped around the hand so that the rider can obtain a tight grasp on the rope.
From the moment the gate opens, the rider must remain on the bull for at least eight seconds or be disqualified. During the ride, the bull ferociously tries every movement to dismount and injure the riderxe2x80x94bucking, spinning, twisting, bolting forward and then abruptly stopping, flying completely off the ground and then slamming down hard, cocking his head and neck back and forth and from side to side thereby attempting to hook the rider with its horns, and rolling fore and aft and from side to side. Moreover, in contrast to a horse, the bull""s skin is relatively loose on its body, causing the bull""s hide to roll simultaneously with its other wild movements.
The rider must rely only on his single-handed grip of the bull rope, along with his training that provides him with a sense of timing, anticipation, and balance. Still, the odds greatly favor the bull in this contest in that statistics show that only about one out of ten or twelve riders remain on a bull for the required eight seconds. A rider may be considered lucky if he is thrown clear of the bull or if the attending cowboys, or so-called clowns, are able to distract the bull from a downed rider. Too often, the result of being thrown is serious injury or death.
In a desperate attempt to remain on the bull, the rider attempts to achieve a very tight grip on the rope before the chute is opened. Although a tight grip may be an advantage for staying mounted, it is a disadvantage if the rider is thrown from the beast. One of the most serious problems occurs when a rider is thrown from the bull but his hand remains caught in the bull rope. This can easily occur because before leaving the chute, riders typically pound their rosin-soaked glove hand around the rope, trying to tighten the grip. Also, because of the twists and turns of the bull, the rider""s hand may become entangled in the hand-hold and the rope as he is thrown from the bull. Moreover, riders sometimes pack their hands too securely even to the extent of doing what is termed a xe2x80x9csuicide wrap,xe2x80x9d that is, wrapping the bull rope around the gloved hand in such a way that it is almost inextricably connected to the bull rope under the riding conditions.
When a thrown rider""s hand is caught, the clowns rush in and attempt to dislodge the hand. With the rigging currently used, the clowns must try to untie and unwind the rope from the caught hand or to slip the hand out of the rope and in this manner free the rider. For this purpose, a cowbell is often attached to the bull rope under the bull""s belly to provide a large object that can be grabbed in an effort to control the rope.
These rescue efforts are by no means a satisfactory solution to the problem. It may be extremely difficult or impossible to dislodge the rider""s hand while the bull continues to gyrate wildly. It also places the clowns, in addition to the rider, at risk. Every second is critical in this rescue mission. In severe situations, a dozen or more cowboys may encircle the bull attempting to control and to release the rider from the bull. In the meantime, the rider or one or more of the cowboys may be severely injured or killed.
A method and apparatus for riding an animal is provided using a rope that assists a rider in maintaining balance on the animal but allows the rider to be quickly separated from the animal if a limb of the rider becomes caught in the rope when the rider is thrown from the animal and to a latch in the rope that allows such release. The apparatus and the method of its use involves a rigging that can be cinched about the body of such an animal, that includes a holder or handle interfittingly engaged by a limb of the rider while mounted on the animal to aid the rider in remaining balanced on the animal, and that further includes a latch that is normally closed but that can be released either by the rider, if possible, or by an attendant, or otherwise, if the limb if the rider is entangled with and caught in the rigging when the rider is thrown from the animal, whereby the rider and the rigging can be pulled from or otherwise separated from the animal. The method and apparatus are especially adapted for use in a rope that is used in riding rough animals such as in bull-riding for rodeos.
An object of this invention is to enable a rider to become separated, released, and/or pulled away from an animal if thrown therefrom while a limb of the rider remains caught in the rigging on the animal.
Another object is to enable a rider to maintain balance on an animal being ridden and yet to allow the rider to escape from the animal if thrown therefrom while a limb of the rider remains hung up in the rigging around the animal.
A further object is to enable a bull, or other rough animal, or any animal to be ridden in a safer manner.
An additional object is to reduce or prevent severe accidents or perhaps the deaths of bull riders as a result of being thrown from the bull while the rider""s hand remains caught in the bull rope.
Yet another object is to allow bull riders to obtain tighter grips on the bull rope thereby to improve the rider""s chances of remaining on the bull during a regulation ride while reducing the fear of being hung up in the bull rope if the rider is thrown from the bull while the rider""s hand remains caught in the rope.
Another object is to provide a latch that dependably maintains the integrity of a bull rope for cinching around the bull during a bull riding session and yet can be quickly released to establish a break or separation in the rope if the rider is thrown from the animal and cannot release his hand from its grip on the rope.
An additional object is to enable a bull rider or an attendant such as a clown or other cowboy to release the bull rope from its cinched condition around the bull if the rider is thrown from the bull while his hand remains caught in the bull rope.
A still further object is to provide a safety latch for a bull rope having visible space thereon for indicia such as the rider""s name, awards or insignia, a manufacturer""s name, or other advertising material.
Yet another object is to provide a safety latch for a bull rope that is easy to incorporate in a standard bull rope.
Another object is to provide a safety latch which does not interfere with the operation of a standard bull rope.
An additional object is to provide a safety latch for the rigging on an animal being ridden that does not injure the animal.
These and other objects will become apparent upon reference to the following drawings and accompanying description.